


Herstory of Dance: Redux

by spacetimeinspector



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: F/F, basically rewriting abed's bits in herstory of dance to be gay, stan lesbian rarepairs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:12:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26300191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacetimeinspector/pseuds/spacetimeinspector
Summary: Abed is doing the classic “two dates at once” trope and enlists Annie’s help to have them go smoothly. She meets the coat check girl, Rachel, and Annie’s night becomes a whole lot more fun.
Relationships: Annie Edison & Abed Nadir, Annie Edison/Rachel (Community), Troy Barnes & Annie Edison
Comments: 9
Kudos: 27





	Herstory of Dance: Redux

**Author's Note:**

> this is for annierachel nation, all five of us <3 
> 
> sorry in advance for using the word hijinks like 10 times I need to google a thesaurus

As always, Abed seemed to get himself into a situation full of hijinks and hilarity, except this time Troy was too busy helping Britta with her Sophie B Hawkins dance to help out. Meaning that Abed had no choice but to go to Annie for help, instead. The situation, as he explained, was: Shirley had set up a blind date for Abed, but another girl had also asked him to the Sadie Hawkins dance. He needed Annie’s help to fulfill his lifelong dream of doing the “two dates at once” sitcom trope. Annie was more into romcoms, but she still appreciated the reference. 

Annie acted annoyed at Abed for not letting her enjoy the dance, but secretly she was grateful for it - in fact, she didn’t want to be at the dance at all. She felt like her every move was being watched judgingly. She knew she wasn’t the only person there without a date, but she knew that everyone else was date-less for a different reason to hers. Because it was a dance where the girl asks the guy, except she didn’t want to ask any guys to dance. She wanted to ask girls to dance. She felt like everyone who walked past could sense that fact on her, the way that everyone watched Britta and Paige during that one Valentine’s Day dance. So when she groaned in protest at Abed’s plan, she secretly appreciated the excuse to focus on something else. 

Abed decided that to get the optimal amount of time with each date, he’d need to change on the go as he crossed the cafeteria, meaning that Annie would have to race back and forth for his change of clothes (and ice breakers) when he texted her the signal. It was easy enough, so Annie agreed. The coat check was further enough away from the dance that she didn’t have to worry about anyone eyeing her like she’d assumed people had all night. When they were all prepared, Abed handed her his second coat and a kaleidoscope and she made her way to the back of the cafeteria. 

As she stepped into the coat check room, she registered that it was empty for a split second before a woman in thick black rimmed glasses and a red button up shirt burst through a rack of coats, starling her. 

“Can I help you?”

Annie held her free hand up to her chest as a noise of surprise escaped her. The girl raised her eyebrows expectantly and Annie composed herself, remembering the reason why she was there. 

“Uh, yeah! Just this coat and this… kaleidoscope.”

The girl eyed it curiously, but didn’t seem judgemental. Realising this girl was going to see a whole lot more of her over the next few hours, Annie felt the need to explain herself, or apologize in advance. 

“I might be back in here a few times, by the way. Sorry about that.”

The girl hummed in response, “That’s okay!”

Annie didn’t have much else to do besides check her phone for updates from Abed for the next time she had to rush to the coat check to get his things, but she liked to have her attention on their situation rather than on her anxieties. Her phone lit up with a text for the second time that night, it being the third time for Abed to change. She made her way to the coat check, looking for the familiar blue blazer when she noticed the girl from before reading the Bible that Annie had checked about twenty minutes prior. 

“Are you reading the Bible?” It didn’t seem like the most interesting thing to read, Annie couldn’t help but poke her nose in. 

“No spoilers, I’m really hoping that things turn around for this Job guy.” The girl said it in a faux serious voice that made Annie giggle. 

“I’m just, uh, looking for that blue blazer.”

“Oh!” Rachel hopped off her seat and put the book down, as if remembering what she was there for. 

She grabbed the blazer from one of the racks and handed it to Annie, who smiled in thanks and rushed out to find Abed and switch his clothes out. When she grabbed his cardigan at their designated changing point - which was just behind one of the chips tables - she rushed back to the coat check to find Rachel sitting back in her seat, fanning through the Bible boredly. 

Annie grabbed a coat hanger and started hanging the cardigan up, not wanting to disturb the girl. But when she turned around, she was already eyeing her suspiciously in a way that made Annie blush, embarrassed at what she suspected seemed like very weird behaviour over the past 40 minutes. She felt like she owed the girl an explanation, at the very least.

“What’s your name?”

The girl looked surprised, as if no one usually bothered to ask. “Rachel. What’s yours?”

“Annie.” She smiled at Rachel, hoping the girl hadn’t already deemed her as a total weirdo. 

“Nice to meet you, Annie. Is there a reason why you keep checking and unchecking the same two coats?” Rachel had a glint in her eye, like she’d been waiting for a reason to ask all night, and her face still held no judgement. 

Annie sighed, not knowing where to start. “Okay, so, I have this friend - Abed - and he’s at the dance right now on two dates. At the same time.”

Rachel sighed dramatically, bringing a hand to her chest, wanting to preserve the theater of the situation. 

Annie appreciated the encouragement, “Right? So he’s wearing different things for each date, it’s my job to get them for him.”

“Why is it your job?”

“Well, Abed usually does these things with his best friend - Troy - but he’s busy so I was saddled with hijinks duty.” Annie flourished her arms, as if she was presenting herself on a stage. 

Rachel hummed in understanding, enjoying the interesting situation in front of her, “Is there a reason why your friend’s on two dates at once? That sounds like it could get real messy real fast.”

“Y’know, I’m not sure he would mind if it got messy.” Annie smiled to herself, “Basically, he loves paying homage to tropes from TV shows and movies - well, it can get more complicated than that but that’s the watered down version. He couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a sitcom homage. I prefer romcoms, but I can appreciate a good reference. I’m excited to see how it all plays out.”

Rachel’s eyes lit up, “That sounds amazing. I love tropes and cliches, especially ones that never happen in real life but still get recycled in every movie…” There was a beat where she looked like she wanted to say something more, but she stopped herself and instead said “Good luck to you and your friend!”

Rachel’s smile didn’t waiver but Annie could see from the way her hands were still fiddling with the Bible that she must be bored out of her mind being stuck where she was. Annie thought she could fix that. 

“Do you want to help?”

Rachel’s hands stilled. “What?”

“Do you wanna help me make sure my friend's homage goes well? You’re probably dying of boredom in here.”

Rachel beamed, placing the book on the desk behind her and bouncing in her seat, “I’d love that! What do I do?”

Annie thought for a second and felt her phone buzz in her pocket, perfectly on time. She took it out to find that Abed needed to change again, and he needed a hat for some reason, too. Annie grabbed the cardigan that she had just hung up - seriously, _just_ hung up - and unhooked it before turning back to Rachel. 

“Come with me.”

Annie brought Rachel with her to the chips table aka the rendezvous point and handed Abed his cardigan and a hat that Rachel had dug out of a random clothes bin. Abed didn’t bat an eye at Rachel’s involvement and continued on to his next date as Annie and Rachel started to devise a plan on how to make their roles more interesting and fun. 

The both of them dug around in the coat check room searching for things they could wear to go undercover, they found an assortment of trench coats, some nondescript hats and amazingly, some guns that blow bubbles. They each ripped out a piece of paper from the notebook on the table by the door and started to write down things they could do during the night to make Abed’s dates go smoothly, but also things that they just wanted to do for fun. 

Once their lists were at a point where they were both satisfied, they didn't have to wait long for Abed’s text to buzz in Annie’s pocket before they could give him his things and update him on their plans. He, of course, was more than happy to indulge them in their shenanigans and told them that next time he needed to swap, they should come to him and try their tactics instead of meeting at the rendezvous point. 

When they got back to the coat check, they tried on the trench coats and hats to try and deem which costumes would look the most mysterious. Annie picked out a coat a few sizes too big for extra mystery, tied the belt up at the waist and grabbed a hat before turning around to see Rachel eyeing her fondly. 

Annie blushed slightly at the attention, “What do you think?”

Rachel got up from her chair and walked up to Annie, grabbing the hat in her hands and placing it on top of Annie’s head, “Perfect.”

Their eyes lingered on each other’s for a moment as Rachel’s hands slowly fell back at her sides. Annie smiled, hoping not to betray herself as her heart stuttered at their closeness. But before she could even take another breath, Rachel had stepped back, looking everywhere but Annie, trying to focus on anything else. 

“Yours looks good, too.” 

Rachel met Annie’s eyes again and smiled, fiddling with the pockets on her coat. “Thanks.”

Then, they were off on another mission to save Abed. They pretended to be messengers delivering strange telegrams that Abed had to answer to right away. They took their time sneaking around, hiding behind plants and nonchalantly starting random conversations whenever someone walked past eyeing them weirdly. Once they got to Abed and handed him the fake telegrams, the three of them made it to the rendezvous point and swapped out his outfits. Once Abed was off to his other date, Rachel and Annie continued their make-believe and acted as though Abed’s coat was the most highly sought after thing by the government and it was their duty to protect it. 

They walked back to the coat check room in a fit of giggles and Annie’s phone buzzed with a message, one from Troy this time. 

**Need help with a chip heist. No witnesses.**

Annie sighed happily but reluctantly removed her trench coat and hat before turning to Rachel, “Sorry, it’s Troy. I’ll be back in a bit.”

She waited for Rachel’s acknowledgement before walking back into the dance, texting Troy asking where to meet him. In no time she was donning a felt moustache and sneaking through the halls of Greendale as they made their way to the supply closet for more chips for Britta’s dance. Annie didn’t even question Troy in their heist, she’d already spent the whole night on hijinks that at that point she was just rolling with it. 

As they peeked their heads around a corner, Troy whispered into Annie’s ear. “So, how's the dance going?”

They saw that the coast was clear and made their way down the hall, crouching close to the walls, “Good. I’m helping Abed with his two dates.”

Troy stopped moving and stood up straight, his stage whisper fading more into his talking voice, “That’s not fair. You should be able to enjoy the dance and have fun.”

Annie stood up straight, too, “I am having fun.”

“But what if you wanted to go off with a date?”

Annie chuckled lightheartedly at Troy’s concern, “It’s okay, really.” There was a beat before Annie decided to continue, “I met this girl, Rachel, she’s helping me help Abed. It’s been really fun.”

Troy’s face softened and he must’ve decided that that was enough to satisfy him, because all he said next was “Good.”

Then they were off sneaking around again, once they reached the supply closet Troy grabbed three packets of chips and threw one to Annie. “For you and Rachel.”

Annie nodded a thanks and they made their way back to the dance, Annie stopping short at the doors and branching off to make her way to Rachel. 

“Hey. I brought chips.” Annie shook the bag out in front of her and smiled. 

Rachel smiled brightly and bounced up in her seat, patting the empty seat next to her as an invitation. Annie hadn’t seen the other chair all night, so Rachel must’ve found it and placed it there for her while she was helping Troy. The thought gave Annie a fluttering feeling in her chest as she sat down and opened the packet for the both of them. 

They sat, side by side, chatting and eating chips for a few minutes until Rachel decided to change their current subject, “So, you prefer romcoms over sitcoms.”

Annie hummed an affirmation as she chewed on the chips in her mouth.

“Why?”

Annie swallowed and thought about it for a second before deciding on an answer, “I don’t know, I guess I like to view the world as some inherently romantic and loving place and watching romantic movies allows me to do that. I love the tropes and the cliches because I can project them onto my own life, it’s something… to look forward to, I guess. I guess I’m kinda like Abed in that way.”

Rachel was looking at her intently and seriously, and it made Annie feel a little less silly about her reasonings. 

“I completely get that. I’m similar, in a way. I find comfort in the predictability of movies. It’s something calm and stable when life is so random and heavy.”

Annie smiled and Rachel returned it, “Yeah, exactly.”

There was a minute of comfortable silence when Rachel spoke up again, “So, what romcoms do you like?”

Annie scrunched up her face in thought as Rachel waited patiently. She already had an answer on the tip of her tongue but she was trying to find the courage to say it, overthinking every little detail of its implications. 

“I really like… _Imagine Me & You_.”

Annie looked into Rachel’s eyes and could’ve sworn she saw them brighten, “I love that movie.”

Their eyes searched each other’s and Annie wondered if Rachel understood why that was the movie she chose, why she directly mentioned the one romcom where two women fell in love instead of a man and a woman. Before she could think too hard about it, Rachel placed one of her hands on top of one of Annie’s, that was resting on the arm of the chair between them. In that moment, Annie saw everything that was unspoken laid out in front of them. 

Before she could react, her phone buzzed and Abed needed their help again. Rachel’s hand didn’t leave hers but she understood that the moment was over, “Is it time for the bubble guns?”

Annie nodded, “It’s bubble gun time.”

They picked out their outfits from the coat racks and made their way to Abed, each with a toy gun in hand. The initial burst of bubbles distracted Abed’s date enough for him to slip out but the girls didn’t stop there, they got into a fake bubble war that had them in fits of giggles. They knew the floor was going to become a slippery mess, so when a janitor started walking their way they took the opportunity to abandon ship. Annie grabbed Rachel’s hand and pulled her towards the exit, both crashing through the door of the coat check laughing loudly, hearts racing. 

They laid their guns down and Rachel spoke in between laughs, “This is the most fun I’ve ever had on a work-study gig, and I used to run the frozen yogurt machine before that old guy broke it.”

Annie responded with an enthusiastic, “Yeah? I didn’t expect to have so much fun tonight, either.”

Rachel pulled out her list from her pocket, as she remembered their roles, “Oh, what else did we want to do?”

Annie pulled out her own list and turned to Rachel and ended up colliding with her completely as both of their lists fell to the floor. They both quickly rushed to pick them up, crouching down and grabbing for their respective papers. Their hands brushed against one another’s as they fumbled at the pieces of paper and Annie looked up to see Rachel looking back at her. 

Suddenly it was like all that mattered was Rachel in front of Annie - she was so beautiful, with her eyes wide with wonder, the way she brushed her hair out of her face, the way she worried at her bottom lip slightly - and no amount of romantic movies could prepare Annie for the nerves that were bubbling in her stomach. 

“If this were a movie, this would be the part where we kiss.”

Annie was sure that Rachel could hear her heart thumping if she listened close enough, she tried to focus on what she wanted to happen next, determined to let the moment play out.

“Yeah, we would.” She managed to breathe out. 

Rachel smiled nervously at the response, and Annie mustered all the courage in her to plant her knees on the floor firmly and lean in to place her lips on Rachel’s. It was careful, cautious, like they were still seeking the other’s permission. Rachel braced one of her hands on Annie’s shoulder, and they broke apart. Annie’s eyes opened at the same time as Rachel’s, and she knew that her face was burning, she’d never been more grateful to be wearing makeup than in that moment. 

They were still as nervous as before, and as Rachel removed her hand from Annie’s shoulder Annie took her opportunity to get off of the probably horribly dirty floor, lists left forgotten where they fell. She dusted off the front of her dress and offered a hand to Rachel, who was still crouched down, and pulled her up. 

Before they could say anything to each other, Abed barged through the door. “Well, it blew up in my face. In a slightly different way than I’d planned.”

The girls stepped apart slightly and tried to address Abed nonchalantly. Annie cooed, “Abed, I’m so sorry.”

His mouth formed into a small smile as he looked between the two of them, “It’s okay. I think I learned a good lesson about playing with people’s feelings that will probably contribute greatly to my overall character development.” Rachel raised an eyebrow and Annie shook her head in response, “Thank you for helping me. You should both go and enjoy the dance.”

He waved goodbye before they could respond and Annie looked at Rachel, offering her elbow in a silent question. Rachel took Annie’s arm without hesitation and they both entered the cafeteria dance floor with nervous, but content smiles on their faces. They stepped up to the forming crowd just in time to see Sophie B Hawkins come on stage at Britta’s side of the dance. They clapped excitedly as she started to play _Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover_. 

Rachel turned slightly to whisper to Annie, “I prefer _As I Lay Me Down.”_

Annie looked back at her and smiled, “I like them both.”

They shared a warm look and faced the stage again, their hands finding the other’s between them and their fingers interlocking. Annie couldn’t be happier to have made the decision to come to the dance despite her initial reservations. She got to ask a girl in the end, she got to live out the fun and the hijinks with her right by her side. It was everything she could’ve wanted. 


End file.
